Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as investing advice vs selling, Bitcoin mining nightmare, RAND magic, the best mountain towns, where the millionaires and billionaires are located, US economy rocks, crypto industry going all in buying politicians, Putin’s war economy, Thailand new visa policies start and much more and of course always all of the most important developments in the crazy world of miles and points. See you next Friday.
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This blog started way back in 2012 focusing on my crazy hobby addiction of traveling with frequent flyer miles, hotel and bank points. It has since evolved to a curated at least weekly post of the best web content along with my commentary. Here to Educate primarily, sometimes Entertain and if I get to Inspire you, well, that is a bonus.
This is a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.
PERSONAL FINANCE
This really upset me: A Couple Won the Powerball. Investing It Turned Into Tragedy. I left the comment below in the WSJ article.
Wearing my CFP hat, I had to take some time off before I commented here because I was too upset for a while after reading this article.
I knew how this was going to turn out as soon as I saw the name of the company and ‘variable annuities’.
Been trying to get the fiduciary rule to stick with these companies and their sales forces for many years and they are still fighting it successfully. Because lobbying $$$ power.
Selling variable annuities in this case should not only have never been allowed but it should be a felony.
The only reason variable annuities were sold was because of the high commissions involved. Happens a lot with whole life insurance policies too. When an advisor suggests these very early in the process, RUN away!
You need to do some homework before hiring a financial advisor. At the very least you should start looking at advisors who are CFPs and get compensated by fees only (and never by commissions). And ask them to sign a Fiduciary Oath (google it or should we say ChatGPT it these days?) on their company letterhead. This advisor, sorry, salesman would have never done this because his company would not permit it.
What a wonderful couple this is trying to do the right thing, I wish them the best.
The advisor involved taking his own life was unexpected and tragic. Sure threw a twist in this story. I bet he easily won many company sales contests though soon after this couple came in to his office 🙁
Directly opposite a totally ridiculous and embarrassing political environment in the US, we have this going on: US Winning World Economic War.
More on millionaires from the Visual Capitalist again: Countries With the Most Millionaires and Billionaires.
SCAMS/CRYPTO/AI/TECH
Molly White with another update on the crypto space. Issue 61 – Soft War by the enemy. And she raises the alarm on the massive lobbying money deployed by the crypto industry to buy politicians. Actually the figure is $177.88 Million which is not raised from grassroots as they claim but most of it was donated in roughly equal amounts by Coinbase, Ripple Labs, and Andreessen Horowitz. Also, lol:
![[Cueball is holding a laptop up in two hands, showing it to his Cueball-like friend who is examining it while holding a hand up to his head. Above the top of the panels frame, there is a box with a caption:] A Crypto nerd's imagination: Cueball: His laptop's encrypted. Let's build a million-dollar cluster to crack it. Friend: No good! It's 4096-bit RSA! Cueball: Blast! Our evil plan is foiled! [Cueball is holding a closed laptop down in one hand while giving his Cueball-like friend a wrench with the other. The friend reaches out for it. Above the top of the panels frame, there is a box with a caption:] What would actually happen: Cueball: His laptop's encrypted. Drug him and hit him with this $5 wrench until he tells us the password. Friend : Got it.](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/security.png "Actual actual reality: nobody cares about his secrets. (Also, I would be hard-pressed to find that wrench for $5.)")
I sure hope your house is not near a bitcoin mine! ‘We’re Living in a Nightmare:’ Inside the Health Crisis of a Texas Bitcoin Town. Sounds like a nightmare indeed.
…they all shared a singular grievance: a dull aural hum had crept into their lives, which growled or roared depending on the time of day, rattling their windows and rendering them unable to sleep. The hum, local law enforcement had learned, was emanating from a Bitcoin mining facility that had recently moved into the area—and was exceeding legal noise ordinances on a daily basis. Over the course of several months in 2024, TIME spoke to more than 40 people in the Granbury area who reported a medical ailment that they believe is connected to the arrival of the Bitcoin mine: hypertension, heart palpitations, chest pain, vertigo, tinnitus, migraines, panic attacks.
ODDZ & ENDZ
We all know or at least heard of RAND. But what do we really know about it? This is the article to learn more about it and it will shock you. Excuse me, my eyes see so much clickbait every day that sometimes I get infected by it, sad lol. When RAND Made Magic in Santa Monica. RAND’s halcyon days lasted two decades, during which the corporation produced some of the most influential developments in science and American foreign policy. So how did it become just another think tank? I really enjoyed learning more about it.
Can the West outlast Putin who is going all in on the war economy? Putin’s New War Economy. Why Soviet-Style Military Spending—and State Intervention—Won’t Save Russia. I guess time will tell as always. And maybe one day the collapse will happen suddenly again.
Amazing photography from the 2024 World Sports Photography Awards Winners.
TRAVEL
SAVE $100 FOR 2024 THE EXTRAORDINARY TRAVEL FESTIVAL
Great! Finally: Thailand Finalizes Visa Waiver Tourism Entry For 60 Days From This Week.
If you are into mountains: America’s Best Mountain Towns Have Beauty, Adventure, and a Frozen Dead Guy Festival. Moab, Utah was nice, visited a few years ago. Which one is your favorite?
I had no idea. And, you know, I am not that surprised. This is a chain I have never ever stayed in and articles like this assure me continuing this streak: Customers complained about prostitution at this hotel chain for years. The company claimed it didn’t see it. Reviews posted online by guests at Red Roof Inn hotels show that customers complained about prostitution at the chain for over a decade. Some believe the refusal to prevent it may have allowed sex trafficking to flourish.
Of the 177 locations where prostitution was found in online reviews, 58 have been mentioned in sex trafficking lawsuits. This brings the total number of Red Roof Inn locations linked to prostitution or sex trafficking — in lawsuits and online reviews — to 236 across the US, or more than 1 in 3 of the chain’s branches.
BUZZING
A section where I go on and on about some stuff that happens in my life and anything else that just does not fit in another section above
Both the Euro and Copa America tournament soccer finals were great to watch. Spain beat England 2-1 and Argentina out kicked Colombia 1-0, links have the highlights. I wanted the loser underdogs to win, maybe next time.
I liked the movie Longlegs. If you get easily scared I would not recommend it. Also, is Nicholas Cage the hardest working actor in Hollywood? Looks like this guy never stops working!
I could have added a clickbait title, as in ‘Red Roof Caters to Prostitutes and Men Looking For Them’ but I just can’t go there. And readership suffers. And that is a tragedy I think that only you can change with your clicks. Anyway, I just remembered that I have had an affiliate link for Proton VPN for years and only one of you actually got it. I am going to delete it soon. Yes, I am still using this VPN every day. Three coffees and two credit card sales this month are the only blog revenues so for you prospective aspiring bloggers, don’t do it if you have mouths to feed ok!
If you have ever seen a techno music group use a sewing machine and handheld scissors in a song, definitely do not click this LINK. Love it.
Relatives in Europe can not understand why children in the US can’t wait to leave the house. Well, it’s cultural. Freedom and money do play a role of course. Our daughter is moving back home for a month after her lease expires in her apartment 3.5 miles west and it is going to be so weird for all lol. Link.
This blog started with a focus on miles and points and travel. It has evolved since then. Everything below deals with the hobby of collecting frequent flyer miles and points and maximizing your travel experiences. If you are not interested, you can stop here, thank you.
MILES & POINTS NEWS/PROMOS/MY ACTION
I only pick worthy links to share with you. As there is so much crap out there! What stood out since last post, well not that much, it was actually kind of quiet.
GENERAL NEWS/PROMOS/NEWBIES/ETC.
Finally, after a long stretch of bad press, Hertz announced positive changes: Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Program Changes: Hard Expiry, Transfer Points & Award Cancellation Fees Removed. Contrary to all the bad press, I have had good experiences with the program. I once had to book a day rental because my points were about to expire the next day…and now it appears I have five years plus six months to use them. And no more award cancellation fees which was absurd. But, you know, I do not rent cars as often, thanks to Uber and Lyft. I just go for the best deal on a case by case basis. Heck, last time in Greece I used Sixt for the first time since Covid and it was great. Anyway, the bad press continues for them lol: Stealth devaluation: Hertz prices most days peak, doubling free day costs.
I agree with these: 10 Most Common Beginner Mistakes in Award Travel. Number one mistake in this space is carrying a balance on your credit cards and paying interest to the banks, NEVER EVER do that!
Brace yourselves for a deluge of Amazon Prime “deals” posts from bloggers!
CREDIT CARD CORNER
Please help the small independent blogs like mine continue to exist by supporting them with your credit card clicks below, thank you!
I will indicate with NEW every new section as the rest is the same from the previous blog post and will finally roll off those parts as these offers expire, thank you.
NEW: I keep receiving emails from Chase trying to get me to apply for the Southwest personal credit cards. Offering only 50k Signup Bonus. Never do that, just wait until the bonus goes much higher ok? Or you can read below how the Signup Bonus for the two Southwest business cards is now 120k. Friends don’t let friends apply for 50k Southwest credit cards.
MY ACTION
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Burned 14,359 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to fly daughter from Seattle to New York JFK on Delta Airlines for the Christmas holiday. She assured she will not change/cancel this time.
I applied for my own 120k Chase Ink Business Preferred card on Friday I believe. I did not get instantly approved. Instead, I got a “In Review” notice. I decided to give it some time before calling the Chase Reconsideration business line at 1.800.453.9719. In the meantime, I am checking my account online to see if the card is approved and shows up. As of Tuesday morning right before publishing this post, it was not showing up online. No emails, no secured messages. So I called and tried to sweet talk to the rep to get me to a credit analyst to take a look at my application and see what we can do to approve it. But this time the rep was not having it, as in “it has not been assigned to an analyst yet” blah blah blah. I should have hung up and called back. I didn’t. I tried other ways but she would not budge. I tried to find out if a policy has changed and she insisted no. So, I will give it one more day before I call again. The thing is I have something due July 31 that will go a long way towards satisfying the minimum spend to get the 120k and now I worry I may not have the card in time. I think they may be swamped with all the apps. Update: It was approved today Tuesday. Chase sent an email at 11.14 am informing me of the approval and letting me know I will receive the card in 5-7 business days. And it showed up online with only $5k credit line. So, I called and spoke to a wonderful rep this time and I switched $10k credit line from my other Ink card to it to my new card. And I changed the new card’s due date to make it the same as my other cards. And then I had her expedite the card to me via UPS (1-2 days), yippee!
My wife was going to apply for her own 120k Ink Business Preferred card. No rush, let me get mine first secured. I see the 120k offer is ending July 31 and we will definitely not wait until the last day. And neither should you! #Developing. I will discuss with son going for this card and whether he has the mental bandwidth to deal with it #developing.
ADVANCED
This is very helpful: My Trick to Booking an American Airlines That Includes a Partner. I am still surprised American Airlines allows us to put flights on hold actually.
And just when you thought British Airways will take a breather from devaluing its program, boom, there they go again, this time with LATAM smh: DEVALUED: Avios flights on American Airlines, Alaska and LATAM get pricier.
MILES & POINTS
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS: 120k CHASE Ink Business Preferred, 75k CHASE Ink Business Cash, 75k CHASE Ink Business Unlimited, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture X, 75k CHASE United Business, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture Rewards, 150k AMEX Business Platinum, two 120k CHASE Southwest Business cards, $1,000 Cash Back CHASE Ink Business Premier, 15k AMEX Blue Business Plus and many more!
This section is about my hobby addiction of collecting frequent flyer miles and hotel points since the early 1990’s! SKIP if you are not into it!
As of today, I have burned 1,123,872 miles/points year to date (1,148,286 in 2023) and have 4,151,166 miles/points in the bank. Some do drugs, I do miles lol!
Remember, you are NOT allowed to ever carry a credit card balance!
Let me leave you with this:
Some of the links are behind a paywall. You can try to read them using Archive.is.
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Feel free to contact me anytime at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com and tell me what you like and don’t like about my blog and, more importantly, what you would like to see changed and/or what you would add or delete. All feedback is very appreciated.
George
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Hello from Santiago!
The IHG cards are really useful!
Delta of course!
My commentary in that section is geared to newbies, I want them to concentrate on Chase Ultimate Rewards points first for their first 5/24. Even though most of my readers are more advanced…and they can always figure out what they can do in this space to work for them. Like you 🙂 5 free night certs are always very tempting, even if they are from IHG…or Marriott 🙂
Enjoy Santiago. Stayed at a W there once and did not like it. But I do remember an amazing fish soup in the local market near an amazing church with incredible acoustics.
When I was a kid we used to stay at Red Roof Inn on our annual road trips to Indiana since they were pretty cheap. Nothing like two adults and four kids in one Red Roof Inn room! My kids don’t realize how good they have it with all the hotel points.
There is a Red Roof Inn near me I drive by every day. And I still have not even been inside, even at the lobby. Just has a strange vibe. And articles like this do not help lol.
I have a breaking news story involving a Hyatt that if I did a post about it it will go wild. But it is pure clickbait and I am going to respect the dead. So, watch out when Boarding Area gets a hold of it, they are slow.
Anyone applied for the 120k Ink Business Preferred? Still nothing on my app…waiting.
120k Ink Business Preferred card was approved today at 11.14 am. And I updated today’s post. #Winning
Remember the Hyatt story I mentioned in the comment above. Well, the first one who posted about it was Loyalty Lobby. Now watch all the Boarding Area ghost vultures jump on it, let’s see the clickbaity ridiculously scare articles commence smh.
Any idea if the VPN you mention works in Turkey? I’m going there in a couple of months and apparently my VPN doesn’t work there.
I see 31 different connections for Turkey. Istanbul and Izmir. I connected to both locations without any issues just a moment ago.
Oh wait, I think you are asking if the VPN software will work when you are inside Turkey. I would guess as long as you can get online you should be fine? Erdogan’s Turkey can be weird though so I don’t know 100% if it will work.
Wife’s 120k Chase Ink Business Preferred card was instantly approved, boom!
I am thinking about the new 75k + $250 travel credit CO Venture card but may be too soon after my own 120k Chase IBP card approval (two days ago). And these guys pull from all three bureaus. And I have the CO Venture X already so who knows. And I have a 250k Amex Business Platinum card looking at me in my kitchen counter….Oh man, decisions, decisions…
Updates on my thinking in my post tomorrow, it is 80% complete, except MY ACTION and BUZZING section.
Also, Ann Arbor Art Fair is starting today. We used to have a meetup here for many years. But Covid killed it, so sad.